United Nations Secretary-General Ant贸nio Guterres announced on 15 July 2024 the appointment of Mohamed al Hassan of Oman as his new Special Representative for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq聽(UNAMI).聽 He succeeds Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert of the Netherlands, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her commitment and leadership of UNAMI.
Mr. Al Hassan brings to the position a broad range of diplomatic experience with a career spanning over 30聽years working on preventive diplomacy, peacebuilding and development.聽 Most recently, he has served as the Permanent Representative of Oman to the United Nations in New York聽since聽2019.聽 Prior to that, he held various assignments at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Muscat, including Acting Undersecretary for Diplomatic Affairs聽(2016), Chief of Staff聽(2015) and Head of the Minister鈥檚 Department聽(2012).
Among various senior-level positions, Mr. Al Hassan served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Oman to the Russian Federation and concurrently as non-resident Ambassador to Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia and the Republic of Moldova.聽 Mr.聽Al Hassan also previously held the position of Deputy Permanent Representative of Oman to the United Nations in New York.聽 Prior to this, he was Deputy Permanent Representative of Oman to the United Nations in Geneva.
Mr. Al Hassan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Washington in Seattle, United States, a Master of Science degree in international relations from St. John鈥檚 University in New York, and a PhD in economics from Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics in the Russian Federation.聽 He speaks Arabic, English, Norwegian and Russian.